Mithali Raj praises social media's role in surge of women's cricket

New Delhi [India], Oct. 11 (ANI): Mithali Raj, the India captain who led her side to the final of the ICC Women's World Cup against England, has praised the role social media has played in increasing visibility for the women's game.

Ever since the World Cup, there has been a marked increase in following for the women's game, with social media contributing heavily to the surge.

"Social media was on fire during the World Cup. Every day you had some article coming out and the people's response grew. My own followers have grown during the World Cup," said Raj at the launch of the ICC Women's Championship on Monday.

"Social media from ICC has given a huge platform to celebrate women's cricket. People are more curious to know about the life of women cricketers, how the journey of women's cricket and cricketers have been," said the right-handed batter, who broke the record for most career runs in Women's ODIs during the World Cup.

The 34-year-old also said elaborated on how the prestigious quadrennial event in England led youngsters to start idolising female players.

"When I started I was the only girl in an exclusive boys' camp. Today I see more than 50 young girls taking to the sport. They want to be the next Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur), they want to be the next Jhulan Goswami. Earlier it would be who wants to be the next Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid," she said.

"Now, these young girls have a role model in a woman cricketer. That is something I am very happy about of the current scenario," she gushed. (ANI)